2012 Honda Civic Review

Learn more about the 2012 Honda Civic with comprehensive car pricing info, current recall reports & safety data, MPG, car photos, specs & more. Select a research category to learn more about this used car model.

2012 Honda Civic

Average Resale Value: $13,713

MPG Range: 22 - 44 mpg

Bodystyles: Sedan, Coupe

2012 Honda Civic Summary

(3 Stars)
Reviewed by Motor Trend1/31/2012

The Honda Civic has become a household name and an extremely popular car, known for its reliability and versatility. In 2010 alone, Honda sold more Civics than all of the combined units sold by BMW. The 2006 Honda Civic won Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award, and successive generations of Civics did well to continually improve upon past features. Faced the with enormous pressure of retaining the popularity of sales that Honda saw from the Civic in 2009 and 2010, they kept changes rather conservative to assure that the buyer base could expand based on the Civic’s stellar reputation. The 2012 Honda Civic (the Generation 9 iteration) is distinctive and clean and very similar to the 2011 Civic, so it can be recognizable to current owners, other drivers, and potential buyers. It comes in several submodels, including a hybrid. All of them offer reliability, functionality, and great gas mileage. It’s no wonder the Civic has grown to be one of the best-selling cars in the world.

New For 2012

The styling, although it's hard to tell. The Hybrid gets a 1.5L engine, a lithium-ion battery pack, and 44 mpg combined. The Civic nets a torquier 2.4L engine. The gas coupe and sedan boast roomier interiors and better mpg. The new HF achieves up to 41 mpg highway, and the Natural Gas variant is the only car of its kind in the segment.

Exterior

The ninth generation, 2012 Honda Civic is much like its generation eight predecessors (model years 2006 until 2010) in appearance and exterior features. The 2012 Civic retains the same mono-form body for which the Civic is so well known. Not flashy, but clean and sharp, the Civic’s overall body is gently and subtly sloping. The similarities are also apparent in the dimensions of the car, not deviating (in the sedan’s case) by more than a tenth of an inch from the previous model year. The length (177.3 inches), width (69.0), and height (56.5) of the sedan are identical, although the wheelbase has shrunk to 105.1 inches. The 2012 Honda Civic coupe’s dimensions are almost identical to the 2011 model with the exception of the loss of 1.1 inches on the wheelbase and a loss of one tenth of an inch in width. The body of the 2012 Civic uses an additional five percent more high-grade steel, which lightens the body approximately seven percent overall, when compared with the 2011 Civic. Like the 2011 Civic, the 2012 model has a front/rear multilink strut system, which increases suspension stroke and decreases damper friction. Finally, a newly redesigned electronic power steering system and thinly walled fuel tank also reduce the overall weight of the Civic.

Interior & Cargo

Interior size on the 2012 Honda Civic sedan has increased from the 2011 model. Passenger volume has increased to 94.6 cubic feet, up 3.7 cubic feet on the 2011 Civic. Rear legroom has increased an additional 1.6 inches as well. Cargo volume in the sedan has increased by half of a cubic foot to 12.5 cubic feet. The coupe shrunk in passenger volume, now down to 83.2 cubic feet, but cargo volume has increased to 11.7 cubic feet. Stylistically, much of the interior remains the same as the 2011 Civic. The popular two-tier dashboard has been carried over. An analog tachometer is the center of the lower section of the dash, and digital speedometer, fuel, and temperature gauges rest in the top section. Brand new for the 2012 Civic is an intelligent media info display (i-MID) that is situated in the right corner of the upper section. The controls for the i-Mid are located on the steering wheel in the form of a keypad. The display itself shows information for audio files, Bluetooth devices, current fuel economy, clock, and upcoming turn-by-turn navigation.

Safety

Anti-lock brakes come standard on all trims of the 2012 Honda Civic. Also standard are the six airbags, Honda’s ACE body structure, stability control, and adaptive electronic power steering. The 2012 Honda Civic is regarded as the safest Civic ever.

Driving Experience

The 2012 Civic’s variety of models offers a wide range of driving experiences. First, the choice between coupe and sedan offer the driver a choice of look and versatility, especially in terms of passenger and cargo space, with the four-door Civic sedan offering more space on all fronts. In DX, LX, EX, and HF models, one available engine is a 1.8-liter, 140 horsepower, SOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder mated with a five-speed, automatic transmission. The NG model Civic offers a 1.8-liter, 110 horsepower, SOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder, which shows a significant drop in horsepower. The hybrid engine available on the Civic is a 1.5-liter, 90 horsepower, SOHC, eight-valve four-cylinder, as well as the 23 horsepower electric motor. Finally, the DX, LX, and EX coupe have the option of a five-speed manual transmission and a 2.4-liter, 201 horsepower, DOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder engine. The sportiest of the Civic models, the SI, offers the same five-speed manual as the DX, LX, and EX coupe, as well as metal pedals, a metal and leather shift knob, 17-inch alloy wheels, and the onboard i-MID gets an exclusive engine power monitor feature. With most Civic models serving as more of a utility car, the majority of Civic models can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in just over ten seconds. However, its suspension and power steering have received tweaks from previous years, making the 2012 Civic an excellent driving experience. The degree of customization between models and its drivability help the Civic appeal across a variety of driver-needs demographics, and speak volumes about the reason for its widespread appeal.

Key Competitors For The 2012 Honda Civic

Hyundai Veloster

Mitsubishi Lancer

2012 Honda Civic HF First Test

Fuel Efficiency Meets Max Simplicity

December 2008 was a whirlwind month for Honda Motor Corp. First, then-CEO Takeo Fukui announced Honda's withdrawal from Formula 1. Shortly after, a V-10-powered supercar thought to be the successor to the legendary mid-engine NSX was abruptly killed, apparently just months away from its official reveal.

The reasons for the cancellation were many, but chief among them was a drive to refocus Honda toward engineering environmentally friendly, high-MPG, high-value vehicles attractive to the masses. In other words, develop and produce more cars like the 2012 Honda Civic HF.

On paper, the Civic HF is everything the mega-realignment was about. Its lines were sculpted using what designers called a "mono-form" philosophy, meaning the design is simple, aerodynamically efficient, and stylish. Further emphasizing the point is the HF sedan's color palette: Only two interior colors (gray and stone) can be matched with two exterior colors (Polished Metal Metallic and Taffeta White).Engineers worked closely with their counterparts at Bridgestone to reduce the rolling resistance coefficient (RRC) of the 2012 HF's rubber. In the end, they bested the RRC of last year's Civic Sedan tires by 21 percent. The HF's 15-inch aluminum wheels were designed for ideal aerodynamic flow to further cut excess drag; the same goes for the tiny spoiler affixed to the sedan's trunk. Two covers -- one hiding the 13.2-gallon fuel tank and another under the rear of the car -- aid airflow efficiency as well.Underneath its sloping hood rests a revised single-overhead cam 1.8-liter inline-four making 140 horsepower and 128 lb-ft of torque. The mill benefits from reduced internal friction, plus improved intake airflow, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) flow, and valve timing. The long-lived five-speed automatic remains, but now gets a higher capacity torque converter and reduced friction clutch.These powertrain improvements, along with the numerous aerodynamic add-ons, help the HF achieve an impressive 29/41/33 city/highway/combined fuel economy rating. The HF, as Honda puts it, is "the most fuel efficient gas-only Civic" ever (the Hybrid still has it beat with an EPA-rating of 44/44/44).

Despite its futuristic, rocketship-like look, the HF is really quite the opposite. Getting to 60 mph from nil takes a longish 8.4 seconds, while a quarter-mile comes at the 16.4-second and 85.6-mph hashes.This highly efficient Civic is the proverbial yang to the performance-tinged Civic Si's yin. Power at low speeds is easily had at any time. The gearbox operates smoothly; its motion-adaptive electric power steering is light like you'd want it. A comfortable front strut, multi-link rear suspension helps absorb bumps. Speeding up to the posted highway limit, however, means an excess of outside noise permeates the cabin -- especially when the engine nears its 6750-rpm limit.

Although the HF's gray/brown/tan interior did garner more than a few complaints regarding an obvious bareness and lack of pizzazz, it's hardly uncomfortable. A "smart interface" layout that places pertinent controls and instruments closer to the driver, with others (like stereo controls) farther away, serves its purpose well.The standard intelligent Multi-Information Display with its bright blue accent lighting is clear and easy to navigate and adds a much-needed bit of modernity to the bleak space. And the four-speaker stereo, albeit rudimentary, does have an all-important auxiliary input for music devices.What will likely interest prospective HF buyers more than a cool 5-inch screen and an auxiliary plug are the standard-issue Eco Assist and Econ Mode. The former gives real-time fuel economy data to promote eco-friendly driving behavior while on the fly (Honda offers this in a number of its models). The latter mode minimizes throttle responsiveness, modifies gearshift patterns, and reduces some climate control functions all in the name of saving fuel. Eco Assist continues to be a fun and entertaining way to gain MPGs, but unfortunately, Econ Mode further numbs the HF's already tepid amount of peppiness. Customers should be glad to find a spacious 12.5 cubic feet of trunk space behind the folding one-piece rear seat back.With the price of a gallon of regular grade gas touching nearly $4 a gallon nationwide, Honda's emphasis on efficiency and value makes more sense than ever. The 98 percent of buyers who simply want a car capable of shuttling them from Point A to Point D, E, or F with a whole lot of fuel left in reserve and extra cash in their account had better double-underline the HF on their wish list. For the 2 percent who want a sportier Civic, they'll step up to the Si.There is lots of chatter among industry analysts that gas prices will go even higher. If they do, we're betting this is one Honda that will be Hard to Find on dealer lots.